


eighty-five minutes of bergamot

by InkfaceFahz



Series: Always Wanna Come, Never Wanna Leave [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: (briefly) - Freeform, (its not angst heavy its porn heavy), Anal Sex, Brief reference to violence, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Killing The Cop In Daichi's Head, M/M, Multi, Oral, Other, Sawamura Daichi Is Not A Cop, Sex Worker AU, Threesome, Trans Moniwa Kaname, X-Gender Oikawa, captains squad, character study but also porn, discussion of bigotry and transphobia, light roleplay, mostly - Freeform, people are messy and the world is messy, polycule, ushijima 'sir not appearing in this chapter' wakatoshi, various other relationships referenced
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:14:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29041452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkfaceFahz/pseuds/InkfaceFahz
Summary: The storefronts dazzled competitively concrete, brick, and awnings preening like peacocks. Daichi's... whatever Kuroo was to him -- friend, fuckbuddy, boyfriend? -- stopped suddenly and pointed, leaning on him a bit as they'd been at two bars already. "Great name. The two things humans need to live." Kuroo laughed a little too loudly at his own comment."Ai-Mizuno," Daichi read the roman lettering aloud, squinting past the bright LED rainbow waves and rivulets decorating the entrance."Of course, we need more than love and flavorless water," Kuroo added with a devilish smirk, "Something a little more precious. That's where Monika comes in. Can't wait for you to meet him."It was more of a reunion, as it turned out.
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Moniwa Kaname, Kuroo Tetsurou/Moniwa Kaname/Sawamura Daichi, Kuroo Tetsurou/Sawamura Daichi, Moniwa Kaname/Sawamura Daichi, Moniwa Kaname/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Series: Always Wanna Come, Never Wanna Leave [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2130597
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	eighty-five minutes of bergamot

**Author's Note:**

> thanks much to @asynchrony for some editing and such.

_“You notice that setter at Dateko looks like a girl?”_

_Daichi looked to where his senpai was pointing, at the shortest member of the clot of teal on the other side of the court. Out of nowhere, one of the 3rd years elbowed the other one in the side._

_“You want those other two freaky delinquent first years to knock your teeth in? He was born a girl or something. Some kid at Johzenji got a black eye for prying about it. Let’s not start that shit with the team that could bodyslam you.”_

_That was more than enough for Daichi to be a bit afraid of the tech school team, though he remembered shaking hands as captain once and seeing something sparkle in Moniwa’s eyes. Otherwise? Distant as could be, especially after rumors about him made fresh rounds…_

\------------------------------------------------------------

“I’m gonna get you fuckin laid, Saamura,” Kuroo had dragged him towards a particular establishment after a bar crawl -- a "welcome party" he called it. Daichi's old job hadn’t worked out. So here he was, in Tokyo. 

“We’ve -- had -- sex--” Daichi replied

“No, this guy…” Kuroo sucked air in through his teeth. “He’s a pro.” 

“And very, very legal,” Daichi sarcastically interjected. Kuroo glanced down at Daichi.

"I thought you quit being a cop," he said with a rare sharpness.

"I never really made it that far," Daichi muttered.

"Then fuck that, buzzkill. It's a pretty boring role-play compared to what you can do." Kuroo nodded to the man at the door. and they stepped past the main bar to a hall leading to a staircase, locating a room to the side. The door opened before they could knock, by a slightly shorter man -- augmented with a small heel on his shoes, being some of the only clothes he wore. His eyelids were lined heavily, giving a more sultry look than he probably had in everyday life. Not tacky-- just unsubtle. Fishnets, Daichi notices, under a pair of barely-there shorts and a cropped, loose shirt that both showed tone and curve. He… he was cute, Daichi mentally admitted. Androgynously… enticing, as he leaned against the doorjamb, genuinely apologetic.

“Sorry… I had this annoying wig on… my hair’s a mess. That guy is sooo into hair pulling the pins were like burrs on my scalp,” He said, leaning into Kuroo’s arms. Kuroo laughed and played with it a little -- their company this evening only came up to about Kuroo’s chin. “Don’t worry, me and Daichi are more than excited to muss it up a little further.” 

The sex worker's head snapped to the left, finally noticing Daichi. And Daichi finally recognized he’d stared at this boy for a little longer than he needed to, several times, in the past.

“ -- Moniwa Kaname,” he said gently. 

“On the floor here, it’s _Monika,”_ he snapped reflexively, not so much harshly as curtly, pulling them in, shutting the door, and turning to them.

Refusing, almost, to just read the room, Kuroo said, “That really fucking suits you. “ Then he glanced at Daichi. 

“Isn’t Monika your type? For somebody all short-haired, I mean…"

"... Daichi?" Kuroo finally picked up that something strange was up, though he noticed Moni was already a little more physical than he usually was before payment.

Right, payment, he remembered. These neighborhoods were pretty much the only reason he carried cash, and distracted Moni's guarded, unexplained anxiety by tucking every bill his wallet contained into the waistband of the shorts, running his hand across the satin fabric in the front. Kuroo grinned a little to feel movement over his crotch, before seeing Moni looking back in amazement.

"Did Tohru-nee raise the rates?" He asked, tilting his chin up, giving Kuroo a deeper kiss than Daichi's ever witnessed in real life, while deftly, simultaneously palming the cash into a drawer that clicked automatically when it shut, next to what presumably were mandatory condoms and lubricant. Daichi had to admit it didn't seem seedy… but fretful, shy Moniwa choosing to do this for a living, seemed... seemed hard to believe in his mind.

"Nah, the extra's for you babe. I brought a third this time, after all."

"-- Mo...Monika," he asked with hesitation. 

"Are you… okay?" Kuroo did the service of sighing on Moni's behalf. 

"It’s an annoyingly small world after all. Did you bully him or something?" Moni lifted his other leg and put his arms around Kuroo. 

"Actually, we did have a chaste little school boy kiss once... Doubt he remembers," _I do_ , Daichi silently contained his urge to disagree, because it was a hazy memory at best. Monika sighed, but it was mild. 

"That's the past… I wouldn't think he'd hire anyone, and it's mine, of every shop here…"

"Time's running, though," he reminded, unbuttoning Kuroo's shirt, kissing his collar and neck, staining it a slightly iridescent pink that was subtle in the color-filled spotlights and alcoves of the basement.

"He --" Moni nodded slightly towards Daichi, who wanted to explain, but realized Kuroo would kick his ass. " -- Can join whatever he wants, but do you have anything to request?" Kuroo laced his fingers around Moni's.

"You worried about keeping the fishnet intact…? Not that it isn't sexy…" Kuroo's voice was deeper, just a little, "glad I managed to catch you, I just might have to get a better view." Moni shook his head, before looking at Daichi. 

"How long's it been..? Still can't see me outside a team or school uniform?" Several Monikas laughed around them in the room's mirrors. It didn’t feel like a particularly real one. 

"Oooh, you have those gakuran jackets here, or are they in your closet...Like Saamura's school made them wear." No comment on this from the subject. 

"Aww Monika, I think he's overwhelmed."

Moni kissed Kuroo once more and they chuckled a little. 

"C-mon on, Daichi… you look like it's been a while" Moni offered, nodding towards his zipper, licking his lips. Daichi didn't mind it, so much as he felt like the hooker was testing to see which move would be a critical hit, moving towards a hint of jealously next.

"Mm, Tecci~ you taste nice today…"  
  


Moni leaned and whispered in Kuroo's ear, inaudible to Daichi. Kuroo's eyes narrowed a little, in the manner they did when before releasing his hands Moni leapt up from his lap, rummaging with a small chest of clothes out. Daichi assumed it contained popular requests. He noticed this particular brothel didn't have any real theme… he inevitably had thoughts of the paradox of the past, currently humming some infectious song from the club radio, wearing a prim, proper maid's outfit, or a collar with a bell… even some of the edgy ones in magazine a handful of them found in 2nd year sitting in a bush near the bus stop. Even though Moniwa had looked a little more feminine as a teen, he had also tucked his head down, flustered easily-- the image of that him dressing for other people’s fetishes was absurd as he watched the man in front of him check his ass in a mirror and pull a loose thread from the shorts. He had this arousing confidence. If it was all just performance, considering some jobs Daichi had worked and was still working, where gritting out “Have a pleasant day” through his teeth was too much emotional investment… Moniwa had transformed in ways that made Daichi feel like he hadn’t a bit. 

"You say you don't want to fuck him I'm kicking you out of the sublet for dishonesty," Kuroo joked. Daichi stopped gawking and looked at Kuroo. 

“I.. I do, but, like this?” 

“Consensually?” Kuroo quipped. Then he dropped the trademark snark. "You think he woke up yesterday and decided to do this?" Without waiting for an answer, and grateful for the sound of the music not letting Moniwa overhear them, he continued. 

“I’ve known the guy for a around a year or so now. He didn’t exactly have a lot of opportunities come the end of school. And his family’s finances weren’t so hot. He came down to Tokyo and started looking for safer places to work while we were fixiated on our goals in between fucking about. And see how that went for you." Daichi looked away as Kuroo continued. "If he was angry I brought someone I wasn’t sure he knew or not, he would’ve told me to get the fuck out like that.” 

Kuroo leaned back on the bed, finishing undoing his shirt buttons. His build was still athletic and toned, the sight of which added to Daichi’s inner argument with himself -- he could blame his psychology and sociology professors for this, probably -- that it was still coercion, it still wasn’t right, and to know now that somebody he could have tried to… be there for, at all, worked a job that could get him arrested on the wrong night, or worse. It was a ridiculous game of trying to blame himself. 

But then there was Moniwa. Monika. Kaname. 

Moniwa leaned down in front of Daichi’s line of view, first the sight of high black tights on his toned legs replaced with Moniwa’s face, the makeup a little darker, the tightness of the jacket and the brightness of the gold buttons leaving Daichi speechless. The shorts were practically the length of girl’s gym shorts, matte black, tight and tailored. Kuroo whistled. 

“Tohru-nee and Sae-san must looooove you, Monika,” he called from where he lay. “Looks expensive.” 

“Don’t worry about coming on it.. It washes easily.” He leaned forward, Daichi instinctively putting his arms around the just slightly thinner waist, until he realized he was kissing Moniwa, and Moniwa was kissing him and then one carefully-filed set of fingers danced across the belt. All these little details to put Monika's skin over Kaname, and Daichi looked up at him like he was the queen within the valley of the dolls.

  
  


“Fin-a-lly,” Kuroo complained, half jokingly.

Daichi couldn’t help but stare into Moniwa’s eyes. Behind the well-painted smile soften the sharp edges, Daichi realized, he caught the smallest glimpse of a happy one, or maybe a nostalgic one. 

“I kind of wanted to try this out, but wow… Tetsu~... He’s spell bound.” He glanced back to Kuroo. 

“No crotch,” he indicated about the garment, before suddenly squirming as he felt Kuroo’s tongue. It was about what he expected from Kuroo by now, impulsive, messy, fun. He then laughed softly, and revealed a little secret about this strange, form-hugging gakuran-esque costume. A magnetic second button, to remove and return it as one wished, a cute gag or perhaps intended for filming adult video. He pressed the confessional simulacrum into Daichi’s hand. For some reason, even though he knew it was just a game, Daichi felt his heart flutter and his dick got hard as though Moniwa had found him in what became a grove of cherry blossoms in his mind the day before he graduated, as opposed to a hidden brothel. 

“Moni, it’s been such a long time…” Kuroo whined. “Even if I wanted to bottom to Bo’, he’s still out of town.” 

“Daichi-senpai’s cock will need attendance, to,” Moni said, not quite in a full character but with undertones that made Daichi shiver. Daichi felt like the guest star to the beautiful actress in a film, with Kuroo, he supposed, playing an exacting director -- who couldn’t help but appear in the shot, having readjusted the positions before leaving two darkening hickeys on their necks -- one each. 

Daichi was wide-eyed and propped up on his elbows, Moniwa -- Monika, here, he felt compelled to remember, for some reason -- kissing him, peppering his stubbly jaw with kisses that imperceptible, soft fuzz on the underside of Moniwa’s chin, something that likely was a new addition, danced against. He wondered how much you could change in only a few years. Moniwa moaned into these kisses several times, explained by a tube that had rolled a bit far when Kuroo tossed it on the bed. 

“Monika,” He asked, temporarily stopping the movements of his fingers preparing like he had a dozen times before. 

“Can we touch you up there tonight?” 

Moniwa thought for a minute. 

“... Just you, Tetsu, just a little. Daichi, Not the first time… ” Daichi promised he took no offence as Kuroo nodded, and his arms were evidently still plenty strong, lifting and spreading Moniwa’s legs wide, the repositioning leaving his mouth exactly over Daichi’s unbuckled, unzipped, and unrestrained crotch. Before his mouth could do that, he moaned a little, feeling Kuroo attending firmly to one part while gently stroking another. 

“Mm, those medications are good for you, I think so, anyway… Your cock is definitely growing.” Moni blushed red-hot, in the middle of taking Daichi’s cock in his mouth. He was sensitive to blowjobs; less than a minute and he felt his hand reach out towards Moniwa’s hair, which he noted earlier, smelled of bergamot and freesia. It was lovely, like him. 

Even more lovely was the angle at which Daichi could see the quiet, beautiful, graceful motions as Moniwa serviced his cock, gradually taking a little more with each motion of his head, murmured moans as Kuroo’ filled him and rubbed his slick front and muttered things about how obedient and sweet and perfect a little whore he was, and gestured over Moniwa’s arching back, to Daichi’s hand still tangled in the beautiful dark, thick strands. He experimented with a gentle shove, just a centimeter deeper than the rhythmic nod had aimed for, and the moan made his legs tremble. 

“Admit it, you’re in love,” Kuroo teased, licking some of the slick cum that stuck to his fingers from playing with Moni’s cock, before leaning over and giving Daichi a kiss. “He’ll be comfortable with that soon…” 

“ -- He certainly doesn’t take a break on his roommates if he’s been busy,” Kuroo. Laughed. 

“He lives at your house?” Daichi asked in wonder, and obvious excitement, though to ask it quite literally over the body of the subject had a diminishing part of his mind scolding himself. He had not previously regarded Kaname as a sexual object, but it was so easy to. 

“I’m not a fan of getting mindblowing sex and seeing the providers living out a box. As it is, follows.”

How very, very Kuroo. 

Kuroo gave Moni’s ass a little slap. “You’ll adore having Saaamura to hold at night… “ He cooed as gently as he thrusted hard, Moniwa barely resisting how much he shuddered, filled with the two of them. As Kuroo came close, he ended up moaning and shuddering himself, his fingers were twisted around Daichi’s. The motions were less rhythmic as the session continued, a slight shift more noticeable now causing Monika to cough, leading to Daichi mistakenly pulling away to make sure he hadn’t been hurt, only to profusely apologize for the unintended facial. Both Kuroo and Moni seemed to think it was very funny, and Kuroo eventually crawled over to where the tight, kinky little schoolboy jacket had popped open and Moniwa was curled in the crook of Daichi’s arm, a soiled towel tossed to the far-flung reaches of the room. with his lanky arms, he lay across them both, pretending to snore until Moniwa laughed. 

“If we want to do more..”

“Mmm, the Madames won’t let their favorite employee and biggest spender who isn’t a celebrity nap here overnight?” The sex worker scoffed and retorted.

"Sure, you're not in the spotlight, yet you're always close, close enough to burn you if it was a sun." This made Kuroo laugh and shrug, sheepishly. 

Daichi felt Moniwa’s arm pull him closer. “I’d rather think of the beds at your home…”

“I love you.” Kuroo and Moniwa glanced over at Daichi with half lidded, spent eyes. They shared a look. “I was… wrong, too. I’m glad I know this… now, at least...” 

“So come home with us?”

“Took you long enough,” Kuroo chuckled. Daichi nodded.

“I just didn’t understand.” The alarm Moni’s phone had set indicating the session was fulfilled went off, before getting silenced, and a few minutes more in each other’s arms. 

“Does -- just everyone know?” Daichi asked, running his hand through the hair of once-not-a-stranger. Monika gave him an unimpressed look. 

“When my family’s finances had… trouble, my first, i guess, client was Kenji, y’know.” 

Well, no, Daichi didn’t know. He paused for a minute, having shed the top half of the costume, gesturing for Kuroo to pass him a thin slender tube -- to Daichi it smelled like rose and patchouli when Moniwa inhaled on it, a small light at the end. It was overbearingly heavy next to the pleasant scent of his hair, which he wanted to reach out to as Moniwa went into a more business-like cadence. “I didn’t want to just… take money like charity, anyway. I wouldn’t take him as a client now. ” 

“Your underclassman propositioned it?” This stunned Daichi, trying to wrap his mind around such a dynamic. 

He shrugged. “It was mutually beneficial. It’s not the strangest situation to have a -- Kuroo, what’s that word?” 

“Sugar daddy,” he replied, combing his fingers through Daichi’s hair. 

“I’m kind of a sugar daddy.” 

“I thought those were _rich_ ,” Moniwa joked, before returning to the topic at hand. “Kuroo’s a fringe case, since we’d forgotten we met in high school.” 

“And because the next night I saw you smoking god knows what in a homeless camp.” 

“Hush, I wasn’t injecting at least. Anyway… back in Sendai there were plenty of love hotels I’d arrange to meet clients in. Got mugged once, though. So somebody like Yasu would get me home safe.” He tapped his chin as Daichi's stomach turned a little. He felt a bit ashamed as he thought of what he was told about sex work, sex crimes, drug users, people who fell off of family registries, the ones who disappeared from the eyesight that mattered, the ones disqualified from humanity because it had been decided, reinforced, structured for them to become no longer human. Their humanity a bureaucratic inconvenience. He lapsed into a numbness over his own humanity's standing becoming shakier. Moniwa continued, not noticing in the lower light.

“Oh, Azumane-san helped me out once or twice before I finally headed south,” he added. “He was sweet.”

“Asahi knew?” Daichi's mind painted all these scenes in lurid, twisted technicolor. In his heart, he knew the cop in his mind was wrong. 

“There's plenty of people in Sendai. One can conduct their whole life and never be aware of the inner workings of their next door neighbor, but hold deep, unknown, yet mutual ties. Azu-san was kind. He just wanted to make sure I was safe. I found out about Love Water because Tohru-nee and Sae-nee had connections to the high school volleyball scene back home, back then. They helped me out a lot, and we have way less raids than other clubs. Being put in touch with them when I was falling for Tetsu made a world of difference.”

“Aww, Kannichi, that’s so gay.” 

“But if you’re worried about the police, and all, there’s much safer jobs.” Moniwa dodged this without effort. 

“You know, the problems you seem to have over having to know a sex worker makes it hard to do the job you paid the sex worker for.” The other client laughed. 

“Seriously, Saaa-kun, I’m bringing Koutarou next time. Mo-na,” he said, red in the face with a grin, “If you ha’vent seen his dick… I mean, tho’ I guess your favorite regular’s got a good one.” Moniwa put his finger to his lips, winking. 

“I can’t just go gossiping about clients, even if they’re celebrities, but Waa-chan is very masculine, it’s true,” he laughed, “He just avoids the subject of relationships during courtside interviews all the while booking me for entire nights at a time, but Tohru-nee would’ve had an uphill battle being X-gender in pro sports,” Moniwa said a little sadly, and Daichi finally figured out who the proprietor was. 

“I was just lucky my parents risked so much. My mother would be up late at night online talking to parents from other countries, with kids like me. And Datekou didn’t care what you were, if you did the work.” Daichi pulled him a little closer after seeing the sadness in the small smile Moniwa wore. “My family’s doing better now, Kuroo offering me the room did a lot, Tohru and Sae are kind… I just had enough support to work as hard as I could.” 

“Don’t pity me Daichi, please,” Moniwa asked quietly, “I can’t stand it.” 

“I just wanted to hold you a little tighter.” 

Moniwa was very authentically blushing. “I should finish packing up -- I’m guessing Sae-nee and Tohru-nee are both still here, I’m probably keeping them.” He stood up, gathering a few things in a bag. 

  
  


“Thanks.” Moniwa heard a knock and called out. 

“Mattsun~, we were just putting things away, clearing out soon. It’s Kuroo-san and his friend, remember?” 

“No worries, Monika, just doing the last round.” 

His voice was a bit weirdly cheery. “We’ve been quiet for a few minutes, I understand!!” Daichi looked at Kuroo. 

“Saaamura, ever hear the saying “never do two illegal things at once?” the bouncers are here to quickly handle if a worker’s getting abused by a client. They don’t want that, period, but it definitely draws more unwanted attention.” 

Daichi looked worriedly at Moniwa, who was switching into normal street clothes. He could be any random, unassuming Japanese man, all the way to the aesthetically devoid of aesthetic winter clothes from uniqlo that were almost like Daichi's own. 

“Tetsurou,” Moniwa started, “is he doing his sad puppy face at me?” Kuroo snorted. 

“Daichi,” he began, quietly, gathering a few more random items, including the rest of his cash from the secure box built into the table. 

“You don’t need to pity me because of who I am, or that I couldn’t secure places at any tech colleges or apprenticeships. That’s another Kaname’s life. What jobs have you worked?” 

“I -- data entry work about employment rates for regions in Honshu. A night job at a Lawson’s I just started. Part time. My first career choice… didn’t end up happening.” 

Moniwa had finished gathering his things. “Nothing makes them better or worse than being a host and sex worker, are they?”

“ -- No, you’re right. I… don’t know anything about it, so I just..made a wrongful assumption.” 

He leaned over and put an arm around Daichi. “It’s okay. You’re not the first, or the last. Let’s see if they have any leftover bar snacks upstairs and go home to Kuroo’s. “

“You have no idea,” Kuroo interjected, “How glad I am when I actually know where you are or will be at 3 am.” 

“I’m at your place more nights than not,” Moniwa scoffed.

“Oh no,” Kuroo said, a bit mischievous, “Just hedging my bets on the hopes that I’ll convince you to sleep in my bed tonight.”

Moniwa coughed and blushed as he opened the door, while the still slightly baffled Daichi received a knowing look from the tallest member of the trio. 

“Thanks as always, Mattsun,” he said to a much taller man. 

“Hey, it’s what I’m paid for, Moni,” the presumed Mattsun shrugged with a grin. 

“Well, you do a good job!” 

Moniwa gestured, somewhat vaguely and without intent, as they ascended the stairs. “Matsukawa-san is my favorite of the bouncers who work the basement level. We’re family, after all.” He looked ahead. 

“You are?”

“Cousins,” Moniwa answered simply.

“Yeah, I can see it. Kana, man, you wrap any kinda eccentric guy around your little finger.” Kuroo interjected, “You and Bokuto need to really fuck. You two are so weirdly cuddly, but you’re missing out. He and Keiji aren’t exclusive.” 

"Bo would have you riding him in a heartbeat if he thought you wanted to. He’s so damn affectionate while you’re a sleeve on his cock," Kuroo continued lewdly, "Trust me, I'd ridden it. My eyes were definitely bigger than my asshole."

"This is why you aren't a professional whore," Kaname laughed. "Love a pro athlete telling me what an accommodating slut I am regardless of if I find them remotely attractive -- if they’re good enough to be on a contract or play in foreign leagues, they tip like they're trying to ruin the economy," he whispered knowingly. Kuroo’s piercing laugh rang against the walls of the stairwell.

“Is that why you love being the favorite host for the closeted Team Japan wing spiker?” Moniwa blushed. Moniwa looked to the side. 

“You’ll have to be a little more specific,” he replied, which made Kuroo’s eyebrows shoot up. 

“Oh-ho..? How many are your clients, Kanachan? Surely you know I mean the outside hitter.” Oh, Daichi realized, Ushijima Wakatoshi. 

“No… He just… He’s earnest, and sweet in a way people don’t see, and even if he’s got the chance to spend an evening with me before leaving again… It feels like conversing with a friend. I honestly hate hosting more than traditional full-service,” he admitted. “Speaking with some clients… it’s exhausting. I read once about how geisha entertained their clients with insipid games and jokes and talents… It reminded me of what hostesses and hosts hate most, besides the hangovers.” 

“But Waa... “ Daichi noticed how casual, breathy the pet name was, and glimpsed a wishful look. 

“I could bring up any topic, he’d engage me the whole time and next visit he’d greet me with a small gift, maybe related to what we talked about… Every session he schedules feels… luxuriously long,” Moniwa sighed. 

“I won’t be long, don’t worry.” The main floor, which Daichi understood to be where the host business was conducted, was mostly empty, and he supposed it was about the time of night that clubs generally had to close, anyway. 

“One lucky boy looks pleased tonight,” two people behind the bar purred as Moniwa leaned over to hand a portion of the cash transactions to them. Both of them were familiar to Daichi. One was busty, but short, with blonde hair she’d grown out since he last saw her. The other’s hair was a little longer as well, but had additional blonde highlights against the natural chestnut.

They, unfortunately for him, recognized Daichi before he could say anything, and crowded over the bar on either side of Moniwa, talking excitedly. 

“-- Hi,” Daichi said eventually, not entirely sure if he was addressing former Aoba Johsai captain Oikawa Tooru, or former teammate’s elder sister Tanaka Saeko. 

“Now I understand what you meant,” he said before clearing his throat. “How -- are you both?” 

“Great!” Saeko replied immediately. “I’ve got a real brain for business you know, and I’m a super solid mixologist!” 

“When you aren’t drinking yourself,” Tohru replied with a smile that highlighted a touch of glitter in the makeup contouring their jawline. "Daichi, it's so good to see you," they said, extending their well-manicured hand. He shook it -- the grip wasn't a stranglehold like most of them tended towards in school. "You'd remember me a bit different…" 

"But you still have a commanding presence," Daichi replied. "How did you get into this business?"

Tohru laughed. "We'll have drinks and catch up soon, Dai-chi-chan," they said, singsong, "It is late, and I can see Kana-Moni's eyes glazing over." Saeko laughed heartily, and poured a shot for Moniwa with a wink. "Tohru said you earned it since you said you'd work tomorrow." 

"Yes, could you make sure to wear the cream suit?"

Moniwa furrowed his brow. "Oh, yeah…"

"It's in the 2nd bedroom's closet," Kuroo volunteered.

Tohru leaned over the bar and whispered in Moniwa's ear, his cheeks turning pink and a little smile appearing on his face. 

_"I asked because your favorite regular wanted to see you. He happened to mention how handsome you are in that suit."_

"I didn't know Wakatoshi's in the country right now… I'll be here early, I promise." 

Tohru tilted their head and smiled. 

“You boys will make sure he gets home all right and doesn’t go wandering off anywhere, right?” 

“If you can’t, Ryuu’s upstairs!” Saeko piped in. “I’ll kick him and he’ll drive. Kiyochan won’t mind. She sleeps like a log.” 

Kuroo gave a mock salute but started cracking up halfway through. “Absolutely, we got this, big sis.” 

Moniwa sighed. “Wandering off... ? What am I, a stray... ? I’ll see you tomorrow. Take care.” He bowed somewhat politely, before pushing the door open onto the streets of late-night Tokyo in the fall. Tohru waved as they exited, which Daichi returned.

“I think that suit is hideous, but if Waa thinks I’m handsome in it…” 

“He’s the one you’re so lovesick over, riiight~?” Kuroo leaned over him, playing with Moniwa’s scarf. “Since in hiiiiigh school, it sounds to me.” 

“-- It was -- I suppose I have a lucky thread tying me to more people than I thought,” He huffed into the fabric. Daichi smiled as he walked behind them. 

“It’s not luck, it’s strings of fate, Kannichi! You’re worn out and need to sleep!” 

“I can’t if you collapse on me, Tetsu!” 

“Gravity -- increasing --” 

Though it was late, they were on a public street, yet Daichi couldn't help but laugh, causing the duo to stop playing and look back at him with curiosity. 

“Ah -- sorry. Just…” He couldn’t find a word for how this felt. 

“So, Bokuto, who I knew from our school days Bokuto, he also lives in the same house?” Daichi asked. Moniwa looked at Kuroo.

“He’s there a lot but I wouldn’t know,” he said. “Kuroo let me start staying with him earlier this year.” 

“It’s been nearly a year, Kaname.” Kuroo rubbed the back of his head. “I mean -- Kou basically lives here when he’s in Tokyo, but his team is the V1 team in Osaka. They’re pretty good, you know.” 

“I know -- I watch their games, of course. How do you ‘basically’ live somewhere?” Daichi asked. 

“By eating all their food and sleeping there,” Kuroo said, laughing, and Daichi chose not to inquire further. “Though, Kaname eats like a bird, to be fair.” 

“I don’t,” he whined mockingly, “I eat a normal amount. We aren’t teenagers anymore.” 

“Besides, if one of my customers hasn’t planned dinner with me, Sae-nee-san always presses snacks on me from the bar,” He said, walking ahead of the other two, nose in the air, waving a finger. “She says you get sick if you drink without eating.” 

“Yeah, she’d know,” Daichi replied, which got Kuroo laughing. 

“You drink a lot when you work as a host?” He asked, Kaname nodding. His first real nervous expression highlighted by a glowing sign.

“That’s how upstairs-pay is worked out. I have a pretty high tolerance, but I know where it ends now. My older brother drinks… a little too much, and my father rarely does anymore,” Kaname’s gaze flicked over the window of a convenience store, its uninteresting facade apparently engrossing enough to avoid seeing the other two glance at each other. It was only a moment, though, before he continued. 

“Anyway, between the drinking and the chance none of your named customers are in the club, so you just end up switching a lot, it’s more tiring, in my opinion. Sure, it’s more ‘legal’, but I think it’s prostitution too,” he said as they waited at a crosswalk. 

“Emotionally, maybe. Sae and Tohru run the club well, though, and I think it helps it’s… I guess very LGBT. Customers might be in the closet, and so they behave better than customers at a lot of clubs that don’t advertise to gays.”

“Wait, ‘More legal’? How does that work?” Kuroo asked. 

“Laws aren’t -- as obvious in how they’re worded as you’d probably think. I can do pretty much anything with a named customer of mine, and almost anything as long as we don’t --” he mimed a gesture for vaginal sex with his hands “-- if I don’t know them.” 

“That seems like it mostly criminalizes people doing sex work to survive. It doesn’t prevent people from being exploited,” Daichi said. Kaname looked at him over his shoulder as they came up to where Kuroo lived.

“Well, yeah. Don’t most laws exist to skive off the edges of society?”

Daichi had no response to that. He had thought that wasn’t true, but in a way, he had been cleaved from the position in society he had aimed for, irreconcilably disqualified from that humanity. Welcomed in the neon underbelly with a warm kiss instead. Kaname and Tetsurou were better actors than him. In an office or behind a counter or unloading a delivery, whoever Daichi really was wasn’t piloting. Even tonight, they fed him the lines and motions. 

“Kana’s gotten philosophical, it’s past his bedtime,” Kuroo chided, unlocking the door. “Gonna have to get hands-on here,” he joked, running a hand through Moniwa’s hair. 

“Kuroooo, I’m not a kid, I can get to bed on my own. And what about Bokuto-san?” 

“Like I said, I’m pretty sure he’s not here, and if he is, he’s asleep, probably, and you’re working tomorrow -- today,” he corrected, “Like you’re not looking forward to being Ushi’s dirty little secret, I’m sure if you aren’t out all night with him Bokuto will be back in the city soon.” Moniwa’s cheeks were pink as he removed his shoes and hung up his coat. 

“That’s why you haven’t seen him around since moving in, Saamura, he’ll waste the hours away until early morning with one of his regulars, and if they went out somewhere he might just go home with them. Because he-sucks-at-the-subway-lines~” He sang childishly until Moniwa elbowed him. 

“Well I’ll be back tomorrow, so Bokuto can wait up for me.”

“You really should learn the subway lines,” Daichi said. Moniwa groaned. 

“I didn’t spend my teen years as a nag to be nagged to death now, did I?” The other two looked at each other and laughed as Moniwa, having gone beyond caring, stripped off his shirt and pants and threw them in a hamper by the washer's closet, fumbling around in a basket for a green bathrobe to throw around his form, in less cliched and lurid lighting, beautiful and handsome, softness and muscles blending to create someone unlike any other. Proudly different. Indulgently alive. 

“C’mon, Kaname, I’m just playing. Let’s go take a shower and head to bed,” Kuroo coaxed after having emptied his pockets, pulling him into his arms. The height difference was definitely startling, Daichi thought as he glanced over at them, before noticing the clock. 

“-- I have to be at my day job in less than six hours,” he said in a dire voice. 

“Wait, why did you let me take you out if you work tomorrow?” Kuroo questioned. 

“Poor judgement!” In the two-level house, he had the third bedroom, originally furnished as a guest room on the first floor, though sleeping arrangements seemed -- loose, to say the least. He hurriedly said goodnight and threw himself through the doorway, desperate to sleep _immediately._

Moniwa laughed.

“I wonder where he’s going,” he said softly, leaning against Kuroo’s chest. 

“To bed, silly,” Kuroo dodged, as he often did, for no particular reason to others but always holding a reason in his mind.

“You know I mean the marathon, not the 100-meter dash.”

“I know. Let’s get to sleep. Kenma’s giving me a call before I leave for work tomorrow.” 

“Okay, Tecchi.” 

“Good night, Kana.”


End file.
